Taking the “S” word seriously
The “S” word is being used increasingly by various people in America…including the governor of Texas. Maybe it’s like Victor Hugo once said: “Mightier than the thread of marching armies is the power of an idea whose time has come.” Perhaps secession is something that should rightly be considered, thoughtfully and thoroughly, by many of the states, regions, and tribes that see themselves as illegitimately being pushed around and dictated to and mishandled by a central government that has proven itself to be undemocratic, unresponsive, corrupt, inept, and unduly intrusive, at times unlawful and unconstitutional, and essentially unable to govern at the geographic and populational scale to which America has evolved.
Less than twenty-years ago the world’s only other super-power, the Soviet Union, split into 15 nations, while Yugoslavia (smaller than Montana) is now 7 nations. All involved in the devolution seem to be happier now. Kirkpatrick Sale thinks that secession is about the only thing that makes sense: Seriously
Comments?
Scary.
the only thing missing is “thoughtfully”. You are a reactionary. Take your place in history. Nothing comes of this.
Mark T,
Need I remind you that America was created via secession, and that
many Indian tribes still demand the right to secession…including the
Lakota tribe that is seeking entry to the U.N.
Interestingly, the state with the most advanced secessionist movement is
Vermont, which is totally controlled by the left-wing of the Democratic
Party. Howard Dean is the DNC Chairman, and the junior U.S. Senator
from Vermont is still a member of the Socialist Party (why he runs as an
Independent rather than a Democrat). Secession is not a left vs. right vs.
libertarian gig. It’s a movement for those who desire to make the future
meet their regional needs and tastes. The states with the most advanced secessionists movements are Hawaii (left), Vermont (left), Alaska (left, right,
& libertarian), and New Hampshire (currently controlled by Democrats).
Were Slovenians and Macedonians reactionary is demanding independence
from Serbian dominated Yugoslavia? How about the 15 republics that
left the old Soviet Union? The age of Empire you advocate is the true
reactionary position, whose time has past.
Empires expand and recede – generally, those times when they recede are very dangerous as other empires move to fill power vacuums. The US, in the wake of the Soviet decline, has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, moved bases into the Central Asia region, attacked Serbia (punishment for refusing to allow economic penetration by American corporations).
See what the U.S. has done world wide? That’s how imperial powers behave.
Get real. The U.S. is not going to let Vermont go, nor Hawaii. That is just plain ludicrous.
Mark T,
Britain didn’t want to let their American colonies go, and they were
then the most powerful nation on earth. The Spanish Empire resisted
the whole of Latin America seceding; however, most secessionist Spanish
colonies pulled it off. Ghandi kicked the Brits out of British India without
having to go to war. BTW, Was Ghandi a reactionary?
Devolution is on the rise and the age of empires is over. The process of
secession among humans is ‘under theorized’, that is, not understood.
A significant reason for this ignorance is socially organized suppression
or politics. The notion widely held is that separation is treason, when in
fact the opposite may well be the truth.
Awe, devolution happens when the economics favor the result. That was true for both the Brits and the Spanish who could no longer afford their colonial empires. Spain went broke and has never recovered!
Awe – the American colonies were far away and the war was difficult to manage form a distance. The French had an interest in using our tax revolt to weaken the Brits. It’s part happenstance. But as 1776 demonstrates, breakaways are usually violent, and depend on weaknesses in the mother state to succeed. The U.S. is not weak. Vermont is not going anywhere.
BTW – the former Spanish colonies became American colonies, Monroe Doctrine and all. There was no freedom to be had there. There is a breakaway movement now in Latin American, with Venezuela leading. Bet you don’t support it.
And Ghandi happened along when Great Britain was disabled by WWII. All of the empires lost their colonies. The U.S. tried to restore some of them, as in Vietnam, with limited success.
Not sure the age of empires is over. They may look different but still be an empire.
Think what the cultural Nation of Islam might look like in 40 years, given current demographic trends in Europe and N. America.
Not sure the age of empires is over? We stopped calling them that, and “imperialism” became “globalism” and “free trade”, but the exploitation of poorer countries for cheap labor and resources never stopped. Not for a second.
[...] Here’s the other insect caught in my craw: “Just a Citizen” writing at Electric City Weblog: Not sure the age of empires is over. They may look different but still be an [...]
Only thru secession may a state and her citizens escape the unfathomable
weight of the debt created by irresponsible and criminal abuses in spending
on credit and the corrupt Federal Reserve and it’s evil spawn the IRS, since
the debt was incurred by the Federal Govt. not that of the seceeding state(s).
Lincoln’s war did not prove that might makes right.
We could call the newly formed republic America 2.0
Immediately announcing the revocation of the (unratified) 19th ammendment,
this new nation, conceived in liberty and (actually) dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal, will insure it’s success and popularity as a new homeland for millions of disenfranchised Americans who will gladly take the guns, their bibles, the constitution, and let Washington KEEP THE CHANGE.
oops…meant 16th ammendment
Awe, the British Empire considered the Sugar Islands of the Caribbean to be far more valuable than the North American colonies, which were viewed as the providers of food that was needed to feed the slave populations planting and harvesting sugar, and thus only half-heartedly attempted to put down the rebellion. Happenstance was the French Caribbean fleet coming north to Yorktown to escape the Caribbean hurricane season.